Lenovo K4 Note vs LeEco Le 1s vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 3: Which smartphone to buy?

Following the launch of Lenovo K4 Note earlier this month, LeEco joined the affordable smartphone race with the launch of Le 1s on 20 January, and Xiaomi would soon announce release of its Redmi Note 3 in India. All three phones offer compelling features at an affordable price point, making it difficult for shoppers to decide which smartphone to buy.

Here's a detailed comparison of all three phones that looks at individual specifications of each phone side-by-side.

Design

Lenovo K4 Note, which is already in the market and sold impressively in the initial flash sales, has a unique appeal. It sports a metal frame for sturdiness and a curved polycarbonate back cover that offers better grip. The K4 Note smartphone has front facing speakers and a removable back cover, which is not found in any of its rivals. It measures 153.6 x 76.5 x 9.15-3.8 mm and weighs 150grams.

LeEco Le 1s, which goes on sale on 2 February, sports a premium full-metal sealed unibody without any visible screws that gives a seamless look. The handset is made of aircraft-grade aluminium and has smooth finishes around the edges and the sides. Le 1s has speakers at the bottom alongside a USB Type-C port. Le 1s measures 151.1 x 74.2 x 7.6mm and weighs 169grams.

Finally, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, which is yet to be released in India, also sports a full metal unibody with rounded corners and curved edges along the sides of the rear panel. The speaker is placed at the rear panel, where camera and fingerprint scanner are also located. The handset measures 150 x 76.0 x 8.65mm and weighs 164 grams.

Display

All three smartphones have 5.5-inch displays with same Full HD resolution.

Listing the differences, Lenovo K4 Note offers 178-degree viewing angles with 441ppi, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has unique sunlight/night display and reading mode to suit users' demands with 403ppi. Finally, Le 1s has Floating Glass 2.0 display and a peak brightness of 500nits.

The difference in terms of size and clarity in all three phones is barely recognisable. Shoppers can elude this category to determine which smartphone they should buy considering all phones have almost the same display.

Camera

Lenovo K4 Note sports a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with dual-colour LED flash and PDAF. LeEco Le 1s has a 13-megapixel rear-facing ISOCELL 5P Lens camera with Blue Glass IR filter, f/2.0 aperture, 0.09 second ultra-fast focus speed, PDAF and LED flash. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 also sports a 13MP primary camera with PDAF, HDR and dual-tone LED flash.

All three phones have a standard 5-megapixel front facing shooter. Xiaomi offers 36 smart beauty profiles while Le 1s has a wide-angle lens to cover more area while taking a selfie with f/2.0 aperture lens.

A real-world comparison of all three phones will reveal which phone has better camera, but the specifications put them all on the same rank.

Performance (Processor, RAM, software, UI)

Lenovo K4 Note is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 octa-core processor, Mali T720 GPU and 3GB DDR3 RAM. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and Le 1s are powered by the same 2.2GHz 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor. Redmi Note 3 comes in 2GB or 3GB RAM variants while LeEco offers 3GB RAM in its Le 1s.

All three phones are based on Android 5.1 Lollipop, but have different UIs. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has its own MIUI 7, Le 1s features eUi and Lenovo K4 Note got its own Vibe UI.

Battery and storage

In terms of battery, all three phones seem to address the most pressing concern of smartphone users. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has the biggest battery of all, measuring 4,000mAh while Lenovo K4 Note trails with its 3,300mAh battery, which the company claims to last 22 hours on 3G talk time. LeEco Le 1s has a 3,000mAh battery, but it is equipped with fast charging technology that gives 3.5 hours of talk time with just 5 minutes of charge. Le 1s is also the only smartphone to offer USB Type-C port for quick charging and fast data transfer.

In terms of storage, Lenovo K4 Note has 16GB onboard memory with a microSD card slot that supports up to 128GB. Xiaomi Remdi Note 3 comes in either 16GB or 32GB storage options, but there is no option to add more storage. LeEco Le 1s has 32GB fixed storage. 

Fingerprint scanner and add-ons

Fingerprint scanner in a smartphone is becoming a new standard in the affordable segment. All three phones have an integrated fingerprint scanner on respective rear panels. Le 1s is touted to feature world's first mirror-surfaced fingerprint scanner that prevents scratches and unlocks device in 0.15seconds with 99.3 percent accuracy.

All three phones have Dual SIM and 4G LTE support. Lenovo K4 Note offers additional features like TheaterMax,  which converts your regular movies, TV shows and games into a large virtual screen for a cinematic experience, and NFC. 

Pricing and availability

Lenovo K4 Note has been priced at Rs. 11,999 and is available exclusively on Amazon India in flash sale model. LeEco announced on Wednesday that its Le 1s will be available in India exclusively on Flipkart in its first flash sale on 2 February. The handset is priced more vigorously at Rs 10,999.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 pricing and availability details are still under wraps. Rumours indicated the handset to be released in March in India for approximately Rs 10,200.